Industrialization In Tess: Replacement & Sense of Entitlement
...nd to Tess's family is industrializing, replacing the laborers with machinery, since England discovered that machinery was cheaper than the average worker. The men who influence Tess the most, Alec D'Urberville and Angel Clare, share England's industrial idea of replacement with Tess's family. Before Tess leaves her community, Angel exercises replacement at the May-Day dance by choosing one out of the whole group of girls. His choice is based on appearance, and he searches for the prettiest girl. To Angel they all seem the same, much like workers to their bosses. Alec D'Urberville illustrates the idea of replacement at Trantridge. Like Angel, Alec selects the most beautiful milkmaid to be his mistress. After Alec selects Tess to be his mistress and she leaves, he picks the next beautiful milkmaid. Jumping to the end of the novel, Angel replaces his wife with her younger sister, Liza Lu. To Tess, this is the only way to keep her family, who are dependent on Tess, afloat. Angel pledges to care for Tess's family by being with Liza Lu, though some may agree that he is only replacing a broken product with a flawless one. Not only does the Durbeyfield family encourage the industrial idea of replacement, but also sense of entitlement. Joan Durbeyfield is aware of Alec's lustful ways. She's glad when Tess becomes his mistress and becomes pregnant, but Tess disappoints her when she returns home. All the characters know that a man of Alec's class would never marry a worker. But the workers use pregnancies as a source of income from the upper class. Tess's family could have benefited from Tess's pregnancy if she had remained at Trantridge. The baby is of use to the family like a product is of use to the consumer. Along with the idea of replacement, Alec and Angel carry the idea of sense of entitlement. When Alec finds Tess the second time, he doesn't care if she loves him; it's not important. This demonstrates his feeling of superiority; that he should be able to have any woman he wants, despite her feelings. He uses her family's poor financial situation finally to convince Tess to be his woman. Angel displays his sense ...